Abaar: A Layered Dialogue with Udaipur’s Skyline | Studio Rust

An experience in slow revelation, Abaar elevates sensory connection through spatial choreography and layered materiality.

Abaar is not simply a rooftop bar—it is a spatial narrative that unfolds with quiet confidence. The design reveals itself like a story, inviting exploration rather than demanding attention. Studio Rust approaches the project with restraint, allowing the setting’s natural drama to emerge on its own terms.

At its core, the design encourages stillness. It pulls the visitor gently away from the everyday and into an immersive environment where each element—material, light, form—plays a role in evoking pause. The layout is designed to delay gratification. Views are not presented immediately but revealed intentionally, allowing a measured build-up to the skyline.

Three tiers define the spatial experience: the entrance, the middle deck, and the crowning sky deck. Each zone carries its own tone but is connected through an overarching organic aesthetic. From muted terracotta hues and earthy textures to the abstraction of surrounding silhouettes in the ceiling patterns, the design borrows from nature without replicating it.
The transformation of the original indoor-only space into a multi-level venue demonstrates spatial agility. Climate-responsive choices—an air-conditioned core, a shaded transitional deck, and an open sky terrace—reflect a clear sensitivity to context.

Materiality drives the emotional register. Terracotta, beige, and olive green are softened by mauve in peripheral areas, while handmade elements add tactility. Local stone and brick form the fixed seating, grounding the space visually and physically, while lighter furnishings on the upper-level offer informality and ease.

The sky deck offers an all-encompassing vista—yet even here, privacy and intimacy are preserved through carefully integrated planters and green buffers.

Abaar is a meditation on the present. Through spatial progression and poetic restraint, it orchestrates a quiet conversation between built space and the natural world—encouraging the visitor not just to look, but to linger.

Fact File:
Typology: Hospitality design (Restaurant & Bar)
Project Name: Abaar (meaning “now” in the local dialect of Udaipur)
Design Firm: Studio Rust, Gurugram 
Principal Architects: Ar. Sourish Rao and Ar. Nupur Sahay
Project Location: Udaipur
Photography Credits: Soup
Stylist: Studio Rust